How does Lady Macbeth&amp;#146;s language in Act 5 Scene1 and Act 5 Scene 1 reveal the change that has overcome her?

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Introduction

How does Lady Macbeth's language in Act 5 Scene1 and Act 5 Scene 1 reveal the change that has overcome her? Ambitious, enthusiastic and assertive are merely few of the words that describe Lady Macbeth, a woman so controlling she convince her husband to murder the king. She carefully plans it out, but her obsession leads to nightmares, and further on a brutal suicide. The Act 1 scene 5 opens with Lady Macbeth, reading out a letter sent to her from her husband, regarding the encounter he had with the three witches and what they had said about the prophecies, and that he would become king. She then begins her first soliloquy, this doesn't just echo the witches prediction but also suggests how certain she is that the prophecies will come true 'Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be/ what thou art promised.'(Lines 14-15) She shows signs of her exceptional language from the start, and she speaks in blank verse, she emphasizes her confidence and sense of purpose in carrying out the murder by using iambic pentameters 'That I may pour my spirits in thine ear' (line 25) ...read more.

Middle

uses fricatives to expose this, they are all words that begin with the hard C sound, and this is how she establishes her second soliloquy. She uses the fricatives mainly so that it would sound as if the raven himself was speaking, Creaks, Come, Crown, Cruelty, etc.... Her role in the murder becomes so much more superior to that of her husband. Throughout the scene she enlightens us with her dominance and solid control, this is mainly conveyed through the way she speaks so much more than Macbeth, and he is hardly given a chance to speak, but this also shows how she is scheming the murder 'and you shall put/ This night's great business into my dispatch' (line 67) Her highly elaborated and sophisticated language though out the scene is ended with a rhyming couplet, this emphasizes on the great reward which will soon belong to them. For them to become King and Queen 'which shall to all our nights and days to come, Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom' (lines 68-69) Over all though out Act 1 scene 5 she shows great infatuation onto carrying out the massacre, the words that she applies into her language are imposing and dignified, to achieve utmost control, which was the basis for her success over persuading Macbeth into committing the murder. ...read more.

Conclusion

One of the things that she mentioned in her sleep was concerning the ghost of Banquo 'I tell you again, Banquo's buried, he cannot come out on's grave' (lines 60-61), this was the subject of a past conversation with her husband. The manifestation of her guilt soon becomes an obsession, still in her sleep and unaware of what she is saying and totally senseless. She is still able to speak about reality and what has been going on, she is also able to release her true emotions and express how blameworthy she feels 'would these hands never be clean?'(Line 42) As Lady Macbeth is in a deranged state of mind, the excuse that she was asleep is valid enough to cover up and hide what she had said throughout the entire period that she was sleep walking 'To bed, to bed, to bed' (line 65). Lady Macbeth's great ability to switch focus, use of impressive words, her controlling and convincing taunts and her authoritative state of mind, somehow fall to pieces, she turns into a broken woman. The tale of Lady Macbeth unfortunately ends tragically, her plans turn to dust, and her life ends in a brutal suicide. As for her husband Macbeth, despite becoming King his rein didn't last, and he was killed during a battle and Malcolm became king. ...read more.

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